OPENERS: SUITS; PASSION FOR PORSCHE

By Micheline Maynard

Published: September 5, 2004

When Gary C. Kelly was named chief executive of Southwest Airlines this summer, almost every article mentioned that he drives a red 1998 Porsche 911 sports car. This was no midlife crisis toy for Mr. Kelly, who is 50, but the culmination of a boyhood desire. His father worked for a Porsche retailer and wholesaler in San Antonio, and Mr. Kelly grew up around the cars. ''They say every boy loves cars, and I grew up loving Porsches,'' he said last week. Micheline Maynard